Worried I won't lose the weight -- can you help?

MissMissy473

Hi, everyone
I'm trying to lose 40 lbs to reach my goal weight, but I'm having a bit of difficulty on the way. I've been jogging 9 km everyday (I'm going to add strength training into my reputorie next month) and eating within caloric budget (1500) for the past three weeks now, but nothing. I've noticed a few small improvements on my body, but my gut is still as squishy as ever. I'm trying not to weigh myself for another month (I stepped on it recently and apparently gained 5 pounds presumably because I'm building muscle mass, but lost 5 inches) but I'm worried that I won't lose anything -- minus those few inches. When will I notice a significant difference? Do you have any advice or words of encouragement that you could share with me?

Thank you,
Nora

jemhh

My word of encouragement is patience .

This is a long process. It will likely take 8-9 months to lose the weight. It is not uncommon to lose 20+ pounds and not see a difference because you are used to seeing yourself. Take periodic measurements as a way to better track progress:

-hips
- waist
- belly
- neck
- forearm
- upper arm
- wrist
- thigh
- calf
- shoulders

AnabolicMind2011

Are you using a food scale? Being as accurate as possible helps a lot. Be truthful with yourself. Weigh all solid food and measure liquids! Can you open your food diary?

Do you really think your building muscle by running and eating at a calorie deficit? ( No)

SueSueDio

I second taking lots of measurements! (And patience... lots and lots of patience, and reasonable expectations.)

Although I've heard that some "newbie gains" in muscle mass are possible, I think it's probably unlikely that you've gained enough to offset any weight loss. You could be retaining some water from the increased exercise, though, and you may be underestimating your calorie intake.

Personally I weigh myself every day too, but that's not for everyone. It helps me to see the natural fluctuations that my body goes through, and to know that even if the scale might not show a drop on "weigh in day" it might have been lower earlier in the week. If I only weighed weekly and saw no difference it would be discouraging.

But, some people find that the daily fluctuations freak them out too much and they can't handle the mental stress of seeing their weight apparently go up by a couple of pounds or more overnight. (Mine usually changes by 0.5 - 2lbs max day to day but I've heard that some women see jumps of 5lbs or more, especially around their time of the month.) You might like to try it and see how it makes you feel.

Also, make sure you're weighing all your food with a food scale (spoons and cups for liquids only) and choosing accurate entries in the database, since it's very easy to underestimate the amount we're eating. (This is not to suggest that people are "greedy", just that many of us are quite bad at eyeballing portions!) Weighing everything, even pre-packaged foods, can be an eye-opening experience if you haven't done it before! Count all your oils, sauces/dressings and condiments, and drinks too.

Finally, sadly the stomach area can often be the last place we lose from. I completely understand if you'd like to see great improvements there - I've lost a few inches from mine but I still look pregnant if I don't suck it in! I've lost 35lbs since January and have at least 30 more to go, and I don't see a whole lot of difference in that area yet although I can get into smaller jeans! (My belly has actually got more squishy... it was fat and relatively solid before, and now it's almost as fat and more wobbly! )

Stay positive - if you've entered your stats correctly and chosen a reasonable goal (likely 1lb/week if you only have 40 to lose), and you eat the calories MFP suggests plus a portion of your exercise calories, you will see results. It just might take a while, but remember that the weight didn't go on overnight so it'll take time to come off. You can do it!

MissMissy473

Thanks for all your help and encouragement, guys! I know this might be hard to believe but I'm actually not underestimating my caloric intake. That being said, do you think it's just a matter of time before I see something different?

Congratulations, SueSueDio!

SueSueDio

Thank you.

I would give it more time... if you're losing inches then something is changing, but it may take a bit longer before you see a shift in your actual weight. If you really are being accurate in your logging and staying in a deficit (no "cheat meals" or too many drinks at weekends that might be cancelling it out, for example), then you will see results in time.

If you think you can cope with the mind games the scale likes to play with you, then you could try weighing daily for a while and see if there are any small changes happening. (I use an Excel spreadsheet to track mine and make charts, but there are apps that will do that for you too - I've heard of Happy Scale and Trendweight, there are probably others.)

What I've learned tends to happen with my body is I'll lose maybe 2-3lbs over a couple of weeks or so, and then 'bounce' around that weight for another week or two before I lose another couple. That was my trend until recently, then I got a bit stuck bouncing within the same couple of pounds for 4-5 weeks. I'll be honest, it was a little frustrating! But I've also learned to give myself regular breaks when I eat at maintenance calories for a couple of weeks, and that seems to help me refocus and get back on track even if I think I was doing everything right. I took a 10-day break, and started restricting again this week. My weight was 187 on Monday, and this morning I was down to 181.5. I've not been in enough of a deficit to lose 5.5lbs of actual fat in a week, so there was definitely something else going on. I tell ya, the body is a strange and mysterious thing at times! I'm just happy to be moving downwards again.

So yeah - I share that with you as encouragement to keep going. Trust in the process, do your best to get your logging as accurate as you can, and don't give up if it doesn't seem like much is happening. It will, if you stick with it.

Edit: Something else I wanted to mention. It can be really hard for us to SEE any changes in the mirror ourselves, which is another reason for taking your measurements regularly, checking the fit of your clothes, etc. Progress pictures can really help with this aspect of it too, even if we hate to have our picture taken.

So by saying you don't want to weigh for a month (which you mentioned in your OP), if you also don't do anything else to gauge your progress then you may get discouraged if you can't actually see a visible difference. Having various ways to track progress (including fitness-related goals) is great for motivation and encouragement!

Neanbean13

Like try 3 months! Not 3 weeks. I've logged on for 4 months n didn't really see difference til 3 months. My weight went down on the scales minimal but lose inches. It's not until weekend where I tried on dresses that I bought small I've never fit into I out them on and was like OMG the fit andddd look good!
But up til then I didn't really see. Others did. And stomach is my problem area. You can't spot reduce fat. It comes off wherever it wants. You have to keep being in a deficit. I've been doing lots of core for tightening and strength. But it's loggggg. Plus I don't want to starve myself and hate the process..so little by little is way forward.